


The Traitor

by Skullszeyes



Series: Dominion [2]
Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Assassination, Assassination Attempt(s), Betrayal, Bisexual Male Character, Blood and Violence, Boys Kissing, Dark Past, Friendship, Gang Violence, Gangs, Guns, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inspired by Real Events, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Male Slash, Mental Health Issues, Mildly Dubious Consent, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Sadism, Secret Organizations, Slow Burn, Swearing, Working Out My Feelings Through Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-19 11:30:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22710154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Brian is trying to deal with the changes in Lucian's territory, at the same time, attempting to stay out of his former group's way, but ends up meeting old "friends." Evan and Jonathan are on the run for what they did, but are soon going to have to make a decision to either give one another up, or figure a way through the mess.*Sequel to The Rogue*
Relationships: Brian Hanby/Original Male Character, Evan Fong/Jonathan | H2ODelirious
Series: Dominion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633342
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Sea of Teeth • Brian

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. This is the sequel to The Rogue, and will continue the story with Vanoss & Delirious, but one of the main focus' is Terroriser with a bit of SMii7y's POV. :) Some of these events are inspired by some things that happened to my sister, and I wrote it down to add into this story. She knows about it and doesn't care. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He struggled to find the right words, and when they came, he felt as if it were almost too late. He slapped his friend on the side of the face, eyes wild, heart beating rapidly against his chest, while every part of him screamed.

“Drive, you fucking asshole!”

Thomas sucked in a trembled breath, and pushed against the gas. He was shaking badly, hands gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on it, which it did since in a second or so, they were about to get piled on by a group of random people with guns in their hands. 

It was quick too, and kind of dumb, Brian felt it in his body the second the two girls waved them down, and for some stupid reason, Thomas slowed the car down and asked what they wanted, while Brian was half finished his cigarette. An itch had arisen under his loose black shirt and baggy jeans. Something was wrong, and Thomas being the fucking idiot he is, didn’t see it like Brian.

Then the girls were running in the back, and they waited for a second, and Brian went on about this being wrong, and just a minute after, more people started to show up, and Brian wanted to smack the shit out of Thomas for waiting this long for two fucking liars.

Thomas had gone into shock until Brian slapped him. These people with their weapons came from behind them, on either side of them, and Brian spotted someone familiar in the group, and the guy holding a gun met his eyes, and then had the audacity to look away as if Brian was stupid or something.

Fucking asshole.

“Jared,” Brian said under his breath, flicking the cigarette out the window once Thomas had left the street after Brian yelled at him since Thomas was scared of hitting the people who were about to rob them, or possibly more. Bullets pinged off the back, then they were driving in tense silence.

“You can’t say anything.” Andy, a guy in the back who Brian had forgotten about, he was holding a bottle of whiskey, and a few pills in his hands before swallowing them with a swig from the bottle. He had short brown hair, a sharp nose, brown dull eyes, he wore a baggy grey sweater and dark jeans. He was thin underneath from the drugs he takes.

“Fuck off,” Brian told him, shaking his head. Andy can’t be serious, although Thomas wasn’t saying shit, so did it really matter?

“I’m serious, Brian.” Andy moved up once he set the cap back on the bottle and placed it on the seat beside him. “This is getting worse, and if you say anything—”

“I have too,” Brian told him with a narrowed glare. “Lucian’s our Dominion Leader, we can’t just ignore this and think we can get away with it, he has to know about it.”

“He probably already knows,” Thomas says absently. He’s still going into shock, hands loose on the steering wheel, eyes straight, barely blinking. He looked similar to Andy, except he was a little clammier, fair with a gaunt face.

Brian shook his head. “That was Jared, he set us up.”

“No,” Andy said in an assertive tone, “Jared wouldn’t do that, it wasn’t—”

“It was,” Brian said, almost rolling his eyes at Andy’s denial.

“Why? We seen him the other fucking day.” Andy sat back with his bottle, glaring out the window with glazed eyes. “It doesn’t make sense why he would do that to us.”

“That’s why we should be speaking to Lucian about this.”

“He’ll do something worse.”

“That’s why—”

“And it might get worse after that,” said Andy, ignoring Brian’s annoyed sound from being cut off, “Lucian has his own shit to deal with since DUSK entered the city, and DeadEye sent in some of their people.”

“I know what’s happening,” Brian said. He almost wanted to say that Hastings was hunting for them, but it’s not something he wanted to inform either Thomas or Andy. It had nothing to do with them. “It was Jared, he’s part of the gang in this area, and he promised he wouldn’t bring us into any of his shit, and you know how Lucian is about people who do shit like that.”

“He has his own stuff to deal with.”

“So, what are you trying to say?” Brian asked, glancing back at Andy.

“We should deal with this on our own,” Andy said, looking down at the bottle that was now in his hand. “I can talk to him, we don’t need Lucian knowing about this.”

Brian was getting the feeling Andy loved the drugs Jared gave him way too much. Including the people who are connected to Andy. It was kind of ridiculous. He was basically telling Brian to lie to Lucian, to not say a single thing to him. As if. He may not like the thought of being a snitch, but this isn’t about that per se. He’s in Lucian’s inner circle, it was practically illegal to harm or kill Brian in any fucking way within the city. And for some stupid reason, Jared had tried with a group of people.

“Where do you want to be let off, Andy?”

Andy groaned, “Come on, man, you can’t be serious about this.”

“Where, Andy?”

Andy told them, his words finally slurring as the drugs started kicking in. Brian hated hanging around druggies like that, but if it weren’t for Jared freaking out Andy and Thomas, then Andy wouldn’t be like this. Well, at least not until they dropped him off.

“Thomas,” Brian said, nudging him in the shoulder.

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “I know, I heard…” He drove to the address Andy told them to take him to, and when he got out, Brian watched Andy stagger toward the front door and disappear within. 

“Where too?” Thomas asked.

“You seem a little fucked up.”

Thomas gave a short laugh, fingers flexing, “Where too?”

“Lucian’s.”

Thomas’ jaw clenched, then he started driving again. “Are you serious about this?”

“Lucian is a Dominion Leader, he’s not going to like that someone tried to rob us, or to be more specific, tried to kill us.” Brian wouldn’t say it was the first time. A few weeks ago, he had been kidnapped by DUSK, and was trying to stay under the radar from DeadEye after MA’s former leader, Mark Mercer, appeared in the city. Three Dominion’s had entered Lucian’s territory without authorization, and since they learned about this, Hastings and Mirage decided to also join in. 

It was a mess, a fucking terrible mess.

He wasn’t entirely sure what Lucian was going to do, but Brian was assigned to organize some of the lower rank gangs that are growing in strength since MA’s appearance. He’s a little afraid that it might be too much for the rest of them. It was bad enough drugs are being used as a manipulation tactic, and it’s one of the reasons why Brian thinks Jared attempted to attack them. 

There had to be more to this.

“Will he care?” Thomas asked, sounding nervous. 

“He will…” Brian sounded uncertain and he hoped Thomas didn’t hear that. He didn’t need him getting more paranoid than he already was. Thomas wasn’t exactly a part of any Dominion, he was a low rank gang leader who was dropped of his own status a few weeks ago, and Brian decided to use him ever since he stopped using drugs and his own people were raiding him. He needed protection, and that meant he was Brian’s annoying puppy.

“We need to be a little careful,” Brian said under his breath. He turned up the radio to somehow calm Thomas, and possibly keep them less strained of what happened.

Thomas drove them to Lucian’s apartment. 

He did not move out of his crappy apartment since the other Dominion’s entered the city. Brian thought it was kind of dumb, but it’s not like Lucian cared about his opinion all that much. At least when it comes to his apartment, everything else somehow mattered.

“I’m coming in,” Thomas said, getting out of the car.

Brian sighed and slammed the door. It was a cloudy day, making the streets seem somehow dead and unrealistic. They walked toward the brick building and entered the building. Thomas was quiet as he followed Brian up the stairs. The elevator was not working.

He was surprised no one bothered to destroy Lucian’s apartment. It was practically out in the open, and obvious to anyone who wanted to raid or kill him. And yet no one did, but Brian was getting the feeling that sooner or later, someone was going to do something stupidly brave and try to take out a Dominion Leader thanks to the others that were in their midst.

He knocked on the door to Lucian’s apartment while Thomas teetered back and forth on his feet. His nerves were not doing anything for Brian who was trying his hardest to seem calm about their situation.

The door opened and revealed a tall, lanky, dark haired male with a pale face. Nogla, a good friend to Brian and Lucian. Well, he was Lucian’s informant, but they were close to one another. He grinned down at Brian. “You could’ve called.”

“I could’ve,” Brian said, and Nogla let them into the apartment. He glanced at Thomas but said nothing as they walked down the hallway. Usually, his apartment was messy, filled with garbage, and had a rancid smell to it that had Brian complaining. Of course since Nogla came back from whereever they fuck he went off too, he had the place somewhat decent.

“Is Lucian here?” Brian asked.

“He’s in the shower,” Nogla said, sitting down on the couch. A laptop sat on the coffee table, alongside a notebook, pen, a bag of half eaten chips, and a bottle of pepsi. “You looked a bit sketched out, what happened?” He glanced between Brian and Thomas, although his gaze lingered on Thomas as if he could see how terrible the experience was on his face than Brian’s.

“We were almost jumped,” Brian said, sitting down beside Nogla, then pointing to a chair in the kitchen that was a few feet away so he could sit down. “In the street.”

“By who?”

“Jared.”

“Thought you guys were cool?” Nogla said.

“We were,” Brian said, rolling his eyes, “I mean, we  _ were  _ , but it’s not like we are now. He tried to make it seem less obvious, but people like them are dumb as fuck.”

Nogla was typing on the computer, and it was a strange sequence that was confusing to Brian. He saw Lucian in certain lobbies like that in the past, but to see Nogla seem to understand it as well was uncanny.

“There’s water,” Nogla said to Thomas, “or coffee, some juice in the fridge. Help yourself. If you’re hungry, eat away.”

Thomas glanced at Brian, and when he nodded, Thomas got up from the chair and did what Nogla suggested for him. While he did that with a sort of quiet and shakened demeanor.

“Still hanging around with him?” Nogla said, keeping his voice low, for once.

Brian sighed deeply. “He knows people…”

“He seems fucked up, did he take something?”

“No, the moment we were surrounded, I think he was getting flashbacks from the time his people raided his house...or whoever the fuck he was hanging around with at the time.” Brian didn’t really like asking questions all that much, so he didn’t bother delving deeper into what Thomas was doing, however, Lucian wanted him to know, so he simply waited for Thomas to tell him. And the things he told him weren’t that overly exciting. 

Nogla shook his head, eyes glued to his computer screen and whoever he was talking to. “Damn, I’m still surprised he decided to hang around with you.”

“I think he thinks I’m safer than most.” 

Nogla glanced over his shoulder at him, a grin pulled on his lips. “Are you?”

“Not really…but I want to know what is going on with Jared, and why he decided to do what he did.”

“Did you even have anything on you that mattered?”

“No, it was just me, Thomas, and Andy.” 

Thomas had sat back down with a glass of juice, and a sandwich. He was eating quietly while listening in on their conversation. There were heavy bags under his eyes from a lack of sleep. Brian is pretty sure he hadn’t bothered to close his eyes in the last two days, which was making him a lot more paranoid than usual.

“Andy?”

“Druggie.”

Nogla hummed. “And you’re telling Lucian about this?”

“He has to know what the fuck Jared is up too.”

“Yeah,” Nogla said, sounding sarcastic, “of course Lucian wants to know about this after he had to deal with Mirage’ own agents entering the city after what happened with Evan.” Nogla was once again typing on his laptop in some kind of strange code. It looked like poems or something, maybe rhymes, and whoever he was speaking to was also replying in them. 

“Jared told us the area he was working in was neutral ground, and then he pulls this fucking shit.” Brian is shaking his head at the audacity of the entire situation. 

“That’s gangs for you, they’re either using one another, or trying to kill others for no reasons, some for morale, others for their own selfish needs.” Nogla sat back and smiled at Thomas who was sipping his juice.

“Morale?” Brian questioned, finding the topic interesting.

“If anything, he wants to one up a Dominion Leader by taking out his weapons dealer.” Nogla stopped for a second, then said, “They had weapons on them?”

Brian nodded, intrigued. “Yeah.”

“You might want to find out who’s supplying them, and possibly...I don’t know, kill them?”

“Jesus Christ, Nogla.”

“Ask a fixer to do it.”

“I can’t just do that, I need authorization, which is why I came here,” Brian said, running his fingers through his short brown hair. He looked to Thomas who was slowly chewing on his sandwich. He didn’t look as tense as before, and possibly found the environment he was in a lot safer than being in the car. Which, Brian could understand, except he had been in situations that forced him to find some kind of tranquility.

Nogla typed a few more than he closed the laptop and let out a deep sigh. “Besides your own weird problems.”

Weird?

“Anthony learned that Hastings is bringing in more people, and they’re giving consent to Lucian to do what he wants with their agents.” Nogla’s reaction was dull, as if he had the thought on his mind for a few days, sitting inside with everything else, like firecrackers or something extremely distracting and only now remembering this detail.

Brian wasn’t even sure if it was crucial, but he at least wanted to know, so he asked Nogla to be more specific until he shrugged, and when Brian was going to ask him again, a little more aggressively; Thomas shuddered, fingers digging into his sandwich as Lucian wandered into the room, yawning lightly with wet dark strands upon his brown skin.

“Lucian,” Brian said, getting up from the couch and watching as his Dominion Leader gave him a small smile, a greeting, then wandered into his small clean kitchen. “I need to speak to you about something.”

“And what is it?” Lucian asked, taking out a mug from the cupboard and setting it down. He frowned at the coffee maker and found it wasn’t on. “When did you make this?”

“Awhile ago,” Nogla answered from the living room. 

Lucian absently shook his head, then he started to make a new pot of coffee. “Go on, Brian, I don’t have all day for the suspense.”

“Jared tried to jump us in the middle of the street.”

“Who’s  _ we  _ ?” Lucian asked, then he glanced over his shoulder at Thomas. “The ex-cult leader?”

Thomas frowned at the title, but said nothing.

“Yes,” Brian said with a sigh, “and Andy.”

“Where did he go?”

“Home, to get more drunk or drugged out.” Brian wasn’t sure what Andy was going to do, and he found the thought almost troubling that Andy wanted to deal with the entire thing on their own. He didn’t want Andy to do anything stupid, which Brian will have to go see him later in the day, or the week, to make sure he stays home.

“Ah, the life of a drug addict, so simple.” Lucian smiled, amused.

“Yes, yes, we all strive to do worse in our lives, but this is Jared, he tried to jump us with a group of people, and they all had weapons.”

Lucian leaned against the counter, arms folded. “Did they try to kill you?”

“They shot at us when we drove off.”

“Anything else?”

“One tried to get into the car, but we took off before that could happen…” Brian had held onto the door when he realized his side wasn’t even locked, and it was another thing he wanted to hit Thomas about, but he didn’t bother.

Lucian sighed. “Well, Jared isn’t meant to take over a section of the city, he’s not even a higher up.”

“That’s why I said, kill him,” Nogla said.

“Before Jared is taken care of,” Lucian pushed himself away from the counter, “and I’ll have someone else do that for you, I’d rather not have your name anywhere on Jared’s soon to be death, this needs to be clean, and whoever the fuck was hanging around with him, they’ll know it was you, so this will need someone else’ quick touch.”

“Who will that be?” Brian asked.

“Hastings,” Lucian said, plopping down beside Nogla, and giving Brian a smile.

“I told him a bit about that,” said Nogla, holding his phone in his hands.

“Who’s in the city that came from them?” Brian asked. He didn’t really like the thought of Hastings being so close to them. They were another Dominion, ruled by a leader like Lucian and Mark Mercer. They were a lot more...efficient than most fixers. He knew one of them without knowing his allegiance, which was Luke who owned Pulse. 

“I’d rather not say,” Lucian said, thoughtful. “They’re a quiet bunch, and if anyone knows of their identity, it might fuck things up when I clean up my territory.”

He almost wanted to ask about DeadEye and DUSK, but he knew Lucian would take care of them.

“I’m just going to head to Brock’s, and maybe chill out for a few days. Can you update me once the job is finished?”

“Before you leave, Brian,” Lucian said as Thomas got up from the chair, “I want you to find out about their supplier—”

“That’s also what I told him to do,” said Nogla.

Lucian glanced at Nogla, then shrugged. “I want the information by the end of the week.”

Brian furrowed his brows, mildly confused by what he was asking. “Jared is messy, it’ll be easy to find out, but...there’s more to this, what is it?”

“There’s missing equipment, and I’d rather not lose this opportunity from either DeadEye or DUSK. They might be locating some of the wrong people who have weapons,” Lucian said, looking somewhat disappointed, and Brian can tell he was trying to keep the information thin in Thomas’ presence. “Can you just check it out for me, and if you can’t touch it, then leave it, and I’ll have someone else deal with them.”

Brian nodded, he said his goodbye’s, and gestured for Thomas to follow him out of the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the events in the story will be inspired by my older sister's experiences. At least between Oct.2019 to Feb.2020. Some of it will also stem from March-May of 2020. I do have most of it written down. And she knows that I'm writing this. I needed to internalize things during my depressive episode as my sister went through extremely dangerous situations. (She copes with drugs unfortunately.) Most of the events will be exaggerated since I wasn't present. And I will indicate what was real in the end notes with each chapter. (Except Evan's, since those will just be me writing his plot line, and most of my sister's experiences will be written in Brian's POV.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


	2. Search • Evan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan is having troubles dealing with his situation with Jonathan, while thinking of the past, but soon it might become more literal than he thinks.

They’ve been on the road for a few weeks. Motel after motel after motel, and Evan knew they weren’t going to stop any time soon.

Jonathan had a way of looking over their shoulders so Evan didn’t have too. He could spot the signs of when someone was getting too close for comfort. He even urged them out of one of the cities, not speaking much afterwards when they were on a bus as the night draped over them.

Evan wanted to tell him that it was exhausting, but he knew Jonathan understood that too well. They rarely talked about how they felt about the journey, and what they were going to do once the agents from either DUSK, DeadEye, or Hasting’s catch up to them. He had an inkling, but Evan wasn’t ready for it. Not now when he needed a place to set up with a laptop so he could make sure in his own way that they were safe. 

There was a time when he stole a laptop, a phone, anything he could use for a short amount of time. Jonathan didn’t like leaving an obvious trail, and Evan had spent almost four days without the internet besides the crap TV in their motel rooms.

He should’ve expected this. Evan spent way too long looking over his own shoulder before he met Jonathan, way before he met Lucian. The secrets he had were his own, and he wanted to at least keep them hidden for a bit longer before he was forced to confront it.

Evan peeked out of the blinds of the front window of their motel room. It was already the afternoon. Evan’s sleeping hours have drained away completely as paranoia took over his thoughts. Jonathan told him he should focus on his sleeping, and maybe try to find a rhythm in the chaos of their strained predicament. 

He tried, but it’s not like he wanted to listen all that much. He wouldn’t deny that over time, he started to get annoyed with Jonathan, even when he attempted to be funny, or when he went silent as if Evan had somehow offended him. He was getting a little tired of sitting inside a room all day, so there were times when he would open a window and sit on the floor of the bathroom, or take a walk to the store with his hood covering his head.

These moments somewhat helped the strain between them. 

Besides that, Evan even thought about Lucian, Brian, Brock, and the others. The entire year working for Lucian was almost ideal to what his life is now. If only he could’ve made other decisions that changed the outcome of his current situation, but he knew there was no way that he could’ve changed anything. It was the way that it was, and he’ll have to deal with it.

They didn’t really have many options in the first place.

Evan walked toward the bed and sat down. It squeaked at the added weight while he dug into his pocket for the USB that created the entire issue. It was empty. A lie. A decoy for the other Dominion’s.

That was the reason why he was doing this. So Amie could protect Rane, so Lucian could figure out what the hell the Dominion’s were doing in his territory. And of course so Evan could escape that world he never wanted to sit foot in.

He looked toward the window. Jonathan had yet to come back, and it’s been longer than usual. He pocketed the USB, then walked out of the motel. He had to make sure that he was okay, and hoped he wasn’t simply being held up by some random person.

“Where did you go?” Evan wondered to himself as he walked toward the stairs after he closed the door to the motel. He also had the key to the room when Jonathan left him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a gun with him either, and he hoped that Jonathan could take care of himself if the Dominion’s found him.

Evan grit his teeth. He wasn’t sure what he’ll do if he found Jonathan dead in an alley, or if they kidnapped him, leaving Evan stranded in some random city with no way of knowing what to do. For cautious sake, he started making contingency plans for that exact reasoning.

If Jonathan either left him, or if he was dead, Evan had to fend for himself. He knew quite well how to do it, and it would be no different from before. 

Evan strolled down the stairs, glancing either end of the parking lot, and toward the street where a few cars were driving by. Where did he go? Evan wanted to check the front desk, and as he walked down the sidewalk, he thought of how he had practically made himself an enemy of Lucian. It was strange to even think they were enemies in the first place, and he had thrown it all away because of his own selfishness and the fears that built up around him. Maybe it was impulsive at the time.

He spoke to the manager of the motel, but they hadn’t seen Jonathan. The man behind the desk was skinny with thin brown hair. He hardly looked at Evan when he asked, and seemed more interested in the magazine in his hand. 

Evan headed around the building. Maybe he went to the store. It was across the street from the motel, including a cheap coffee shop that hardly knew how to make coffee.

He guessed one of the good things about leaving Lucian was that the city he called his  _ territory  _ was becoming overcrowded. At least with Dominions when Mark Mercer infiltrated the area, then disappeared. He wanted to ask Jonathan about what he thought about Messenger Assault not becoming a Dominion again. Would it matter now that they were on the run?

Not like it was ever meant to be rebuilt.

Evan searched the store, then asked the woman at the front if they saw Jonathan. He didn’t say his name to anyone, he simply described how he looked before moving on to the coffee shop. It smelled like coffee beans and sugar when he first stepped inside, but as he lingered, he could feel how stale it was. There were several older people sitting in the booths, eating their breakfast and speaking to one another as Evan walked across the shop to the other side.

He pushed the door open and let out a frustrated noise.

“Where the fuck are you?” he asked, standing on the sidewalk.

The ray of sunlight shown upon the asphalt and fading paint upon several buildings. The city itself was smaller than most, and it lacked the loud atmosphere that most cities held. It was also strange without the normal type of people Evan was familiar with back in Lucian’s Dominion.

Normal.

Yeah, that was the right word to use. He rolled his eyes, then he sauntered toward the parking lot, glancing either way and wishing that Jonathan had a phone. They got rid of theirs when they left the last city.

Always so competent, but Evan was getting the feeling the paranoia was getting too close to him. Maybe it itched under his clothes, sinking into his skin, making him think things that weren’t true.

Maybe he wasn’t as used to it as Evan was.

He was an assassin. A hitman-for-hire. How did he operate when he wasn’t on the run from three Dominion’s? Or was this just the normal reaction of being hunted? He wasn’t really sure, but the tension between them when it all began was too palpable to ignore. He’ll have to ask him about his demeanor sooner or later just to clear the air before Evan loses his mind.

There’s a slight thought, one that feels as if he’s almost betraying his own judgement, but it’s interrupted when he spots someone standing at the end of the street. They’re waiting for the light, but when it turns, they don’t move from where they’re standing.

Evan took a careful step back, heart racing.  _ I know you. _

They turn, and Evan bolted without even thinking. He’s not even sure where he’s going, or what he thinks he’ll find as his feet hit the ground. This isn’t good, he has no weapon, no phone, or anything. He’ll follow him back to the motel, and if they’re here, it only makes his earlier thoughts more pronounced.

_ Where are you, Jonathan? _

He doesn’t go back to the motel. Instead, Evan sprints toward an alley, then dashes down until he skids to a stop, barely falling to the ground when he finds someone at the end. He’s standing in the center of the exit to the alley. Hands tucked inside his pockets, a grim smile upon his mouth.

“Shit…” Evan muttered under his breath. 

“Where do you think you’re going, Evan?”

He slowly turned to face the one behind him, and looking at his face instead of the side of it, he knew his own doubts, regrets, and turmoil thoughts no longer matter. This was it, wasn’t it? He should’ve known better than to think he would have ran far enough until he had to face the people he had escaped.

“Tyler,” Evan said, trying to seem nonchalant as the tall blonde haired man grinned at him.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

_ It should’ve been longer.  _


	3. Anxiety • Brian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian talks to a friend of his to find out more clues on who is supplying weapons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** Thomas is based off a friend of my older sister's. He lived with her once, and I like to call him a "cult leader," cause he exhibited traits to one. He had followers who would've done anything for him, and they even cut off their fingers. _(My sister was present for one of these moments.)_ He was an extreme hoarder and managed to mess up her basement. After a month, he was stripped of his title. _(She's still friends with him.)_
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Brian tapped his fingers on the steering wheel while he and Thomas sit in silence. Well, Brian is quiet, he isn’t so sure about Thomas who’s bouncing his leg, and playing with the earphone cord.

“What are we doing?” he asked.

Brian sighed. What were they doing? He didn’t know where to look, it’s not like he made friends outside of Lucian’s inner circle, and if he ever did correspond with others, it was simply business for Lucian. Nothing more. Sure, he sold guns before, but he only did it when he needed to. Lately, he didn’t have too, at least until he found out Jared almost fucked them over.

“I need to talk to someone reliable,” Brian said, starting up the car and driving away from the curb. Thomas was still nervous, and Brian wasn’t sure how to calm him down. He almost wanted to see if someone had a blunt, maybe pills, but he’d rather not shove Thomas down the same cliff he seemed to keep on falling off of.

“Who...who are we—”

“Rane.” Brian turned down a street and continued for a few minutes while Thomas gritted his teeth, and stared out the window. He almost wanted to ask why he was so sketched out, but he’d rather not have that conversation. “She’s safe.”

“I know she’s safe,” Thomas said, looking down at his lap where he was wringing his fingers. “That’s not the point, it isn’t the point, it’s…”

Brian frowned and continued driving until they stopped in front of Pierce’s house. A brown looking building with paint peeling off the front steps. He didn’t see Brock’s car in the front and wondered where he went off too.

“Are you staying in the car?” he asked once he stopped in the driveway.

Thomas nodded, and Brian got out, closing the door and letting out another exasperated sigh. He wasn’t sure how long he’ll be able to deal with this much longer. He walked up the front steps and knocked on the screen door. It was too warm out, making his body feel slick with sweat, but he had business to do and his shower will have to wait until later.

Rane poked her head from the kitchen and waved. “Come in.”

Brian opened the door and smelled cinnamon right away. “Hey, do you have anything to relax Thomas?” He took off his shoes and noticed Pierce’s weren’t in the front like they usually were. Where was everyone? Maybe he should’ve asked Lucian, but rarely did he ever answer a question with the truth.

Rane snorted from the kitchen. “You’re hanging out with Tom? Why?”

“He crawled his way to Lucian, begging on his knees for safety,” Brian said as he walked into the kitchen where she was making cookies. It was a strange sight, but Rane seemed too preoccupied with it.

“And that’s the reason why he’s hanging out with you?” she asked, brow arched. She had dyed her black hair to a blonde not too long ago, it was kind of an ugly mix of shades before a lot more colors covered up the mess.

“It’s not like I want him to sit in my car, having a panic attack every few seconds, but we were almost jumped not too long ago, and he didn’t want to drive that much afterwards.” Brian felt for the keys in his pocket and was reminded his car had been stolen before, it took a day to locate it, and another few hours to find the people holed up inside a drug den.

“Who jumped you?” Rane asked, placing a pan inside the oven.

“Jared.”

Rane glanced up, brows pinched. “Are you serious?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” Brian said. “He had weapons not meant for his people. I want to know who the supplier is.”

“People manage to get their guns from anyone, even stores,” Rane said, stepping past him, and he followed her down the hall to her bedroom. A double sized bed sat against the wall beside a window, rainbow curtains kept the room dim, while her dresser was covered in products, magazines, an ashtray, and a lighter.

“I’m only investigating where they got the guns, if it wasn’t from someone authorized by Lucian, then I’m allowed to do what I want,” he told her, watching Rane look through a box of small bottles.

“Hardly anyone cares that you’re a weapons dealer, and it’s the reason why they blatantly ignore you and Lucian,” Rane said, placing the box back on the shelf. “Not a lot of people enjoy the authority of others.”

Brian scoffed. “It’s too late for that, the Government rules our existence, and the police do the rest, while the lower gangs try to control the ones trying to gain rank.”

“And look what happened to Thomas,” Rane said, passing him the small bottle. “He had people under his thumb, they would’ve done anything for him, stole from others, some even went out and spent days looking for his stolen shit. They killed for what he did, and they did things I’m sure they all regret doing just for his loyalty.”

Rane walked by him and he followed her into the living room. He understood what she was saying about Thomas. Lucian informed him of his flimsy control over a part of the city, including the lower gangs that cut their fingers off for him. The drugs he supplied went to their heads, and when he couldn’t give them stolen objects, guns, drugs, bikes, and weapons to the point Thomas had started hoarding useless shit inside a basement, it was only a matter of time until his own people stripped him of his title.

“Do you have any information or not?” he asked her. He glanced to the door, hoping Thomas wasn’t too anxious that he simply walked off, but he was also getting the feeling his anxiety could keep him where he wanted him.

Rane sighed. “From what I heard, which is a sliver of information after some people found out I was close to Lucian’s  _ inner circle  _ ,” she shook her head, “I haven’t gotten much from anyone lately, and I haven’t heard from—”

“Rane, do you have information or not?” Brian interjected, feeling tense.

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, “Jared was close to Darius who’s a member of The Devil Posse.”

“They’re quiet.” He heard about them, and it was bad enough they should’ve kept a closer eye on their activities in the city. They simply made themselves look small, but he was getting the feeling that wasn’t the case.

Rane nodded, grimacing at the mention of the gang. “Too fucking quiet. They move around like rats, infesting the north-east end of the city near central. Trust me, Brian, you don’t want to fuck with them, they’re all hyped up on Meth, Coke, and Fentanyl.”

“How dangerous could they be if they’re drugged up?”

Rane chuckled, but it was an empty sound. “People do crazy shit when they’re drugged up, they lose a portion of who they are, and they think they’re Gods.”

“Until the drug wears down.”

“That makes it worse when people are addicted, makes them rabid, like the rats.”

Brian nodded. “Darius is part of this gang?”

“I only mentioned him because Jared was close to him,” Rane said, wearing an uncomfortable expression. She was wary, maybe even scared. “Darius got picked up a few days ago for a double murder, but the person you want information from is his girlfriend, Kelsey.”

“Kelsey?” he asked. He was not familiar with any of these people.

Rane nodded, glancing to the kitchen where her cookies were. “Darius was her side,” she shrugged, giving him a small smile, “who she’s actually dating, I’m not sure. There's a rumor about her with this girl, Danielle, that she might've done something to her."

"Danielle?"

"A friend of hers, she was found dead, but no one knows what happened." She looked uneasy. "They suspect it was Kelsey who had done it. Just be careful when confronting her."

Brian took a breath and tried smiling to reassure her, but he wasn't sure if it was working. “Thanks Rane.”

“Yeah, and make sure Thomas is okay, I get the whole anxiety thing, you know...sometimes you can’t keep your head.” She shrugged. He noticed she was wringing her fingers like Thomas had been doing in the car. The conversation had made her nervous, and Brian was sorry as he left the house.

To his surprise, Thomas was still sitting in the car, staring at Brian before looking down at his phone. Brian got back into the car and let out a deep sigh.

“So?” Thomas asked.

Brian passed him the essential oil. “She thought it might help.”

“It won’t,” Thomas said, placing the bottle inside the glove compartment, and slammed it shut. “Where are we going now?”

“You’re close to people in TDP?”

Thomas visibly shuddered. “Why? Don’t tell me we’re going to talk to  _ them  _ .” 

“We have too,” Brian said, starting the car. He almost asked if Thomas wanted to get dropped off, but the words didn’t escape him as he drove away from Pierce’s house. He had forgotten to ask about her brother, and where he and Brock were.

“You think they have to do with what Jared tried to do to us?” Thomas asked.

“Not to burst your bubble, Thomas, but we’re investigating, and that means we have to ask questions to the right people so we can get to the bottom of what is happening.”

“Why don’t you ask your own people?” he asked, shifting his body and staring out the window.

_ My people.  _ He already spoke to Lucian about this, but he wasn’t sure if Thomas was talking about something else. It was so close that he could hardly fathom what was going on, and a small part of him was afraid of confronting the truth. 

They were in the city. He saw them with Evan when they kidnapped them to get to Lucian, and whatever happened to Mark Mercer. Now the agents from other Dominions were inside of Lucian’s territory. He had been trying to stay away from the ones who would recognize him, but he figured sooner or later, it’s going to become an issue.

_ DeadEye. _

“Do you know who Kelsey is from TDP?” he asked, hoping to change the subject, and the thoughts in his head. He didn’t want to overthink anything until it became a bigger problem then it was now.

“Kelsey Lowell?” Thomas asked, frowning at Brian. “She’s the girlfriend to—”

“Darius,” Brian nodded, “yeah I know, Rane told—”

“No, she’s dating Aiden Fall,” Thomas interjected, brows knitted together as he stared at the radio. It wasn’t turned on, and maybe Thomas really did hate the silence. He looked petrified in his fetal position. “He’s a higher up in TDP…but from what I heard, she’s more threatening in whatever position they gave her.”

“Great,” Brian said, squeezing the steering wheel. “We’ll look for her first, then Aiden, do you know where we can find her?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Darius character is based off a childhood friend of mine who murdered someone in Feb. I'll mention it more in the next Brian' chapter. TDP is based off a gang in my city.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative.


	4. His Past, His Present • Evan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan & Jonathan have a talk about a past Evan is trying to run from.

Evan walked inside the motel and found Jonathan standing in front of the table. He turned and from the looks of it, there was a small box with two white plastic forks beside it.

“Where were you?” Jonathan asked, brows pinched, obviously worried like how Evan had been earlier.

Evan closed and locked the door, letting out a sigh, before kicking off his shoes. He walked over to the two double beds sitting beside one another and had little energy to speak, and instead, fell upon the creaking bed that he had taken when they first came to the motel.

They rarely leave the apartment, and Evan figured the chances of what happened was strange. They were too paranoid, and it made sense why they should be now that he had been confronted by it.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Evan muttered in the dark blue blanket that did not smell right. Too much detergent, or something else that was powdery. Maybe this motel should change what they buy so it doesn’t smell disturbing.

“Are you sure?” Jonathan asked, and Evan felt his hands on his sides, flipping his sweater, then checking his legs. “You’re not usually...sad.”

What he  _ usually  _ did was make jokes to defuse the tension, but Evan was way too exhausted to do that. “I’m fine,” he told him.

“I bought us pie,” said Jonathan after a second, as if it was going to fix everything that was going on.

Evan didn’t respond, and he felt a hand raking through his hair to his nape where the dark strands were finally growing past. He really needed a shower. Then he felt Jonathan touching the inside of his wrist, and Evan’s heart raced at what was sitting there. He had been shocked, curious, and Evan would rather not give him the answer he so desperately wanted. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to talk about after what they did to Lucian.

Jonathan caressed the mark, and the question sat in the silence between them. 

He almost wanted to pretend he was sleeping. Instead, Evan turned his head, eyes remaining closed, and said, “It has to stay there…”

“What?”

“My past.”

Jonathan massaged Evan’s hand, his fingers. “You don’t want to venture there?”

Evan opened his eyes. He wanted to tell Jonathan about the mark, but he hardly thought it mattered now. It was years ago, a mix of mistakes that continued to drag behind him while he escaped his past, the death of his family, his trauma that still resides in his dreams when he sleeps. If only he could escape it, and maybe he should’ve gotten the mark covered.

His thumb caressed over the mark, the reminder. “Spectre. Another Dominion like all the others. Underground Organization. They affiliate more to hacker groups.”

Once, it was ideal, once it all made sense for Evan to hide within their ranks, to lie to them until they dragged the truth between his teeth, and when it got too close, he escaped.

“Are you truly a part of it?” he asked, slowing his caresses. Evan wondered if Jonathan had hoped he met someone that wasn’t a part of a Dominion. Who wasn’t already stained by death and corruption, except Evan had been for a long time, it was only a matter of time until he met people who were akin to him.

“Not to any sort of degree,” he told him, hoping that was enough and maybe if the questions could stop, Evan could sleep, pretend he wasn’t being watched and they weren’t being closely followed.

“What does that mean?”

“I only stayed because I needed a place to stay,” Evan pulled his hand away from Jonathan’s, “then I left without looking back.” Like he would’ve done to everyone else who crossed his path, it would’ve been satisfying then lingering in the shadows of people who would use him for what he could do. At least until Lucian didn’t need him anymore, and he wasn’t so sure about what he and Jonathan were doing. Waiting to die by other Dominions? Hoping that their deaths could be a message to Lucian and Mark Mercer? He knew they didn’t care, and that made it worse. What did their lives mean? 

“Is that all? I don’t think they would’ve let you go right away, not like that.”

Evan smiled. “I didn’t know what Dominions were, Jon, I didn’t care what I was leaving behind. It’s not like I made friends with anyone.”  _ Not like who I met in Lucian’s, and certainly not you of all people. A surprise out of all the mess. _

“They take themselves seriously, and what you did to defect in such a way, I’m surprised you aren’t dead,” Jonathan said, his voice calm and collected, and Evan almost wanted to see what his expressions were, if he was confused or even angry about what Evan had done. What were Jonathan’s loyalty to his own Dominion like? “I’m guessing you didn’t care at the time.”

“It’s difficult when I make no connections to anyone.”  _ Until you walked into my life, and when I was forced to make another choice to change the outcome of a few others.  _

“You signed their contract?” he asked.

Evan rolled onto his back and examined the mark. “How do you think I got this tattooed? It was one obstacle to get into their ranks, to be honest, I’m not even sure how I did it. Maybe they contacted me and asked about my skills, or they ambushed me. I couldn’t tell you what happened,” he grinned at Jonathan, “I only stayed for six months before leaving.”

Jonathan’s smile was kind and his eyes were bright. He didn’t look like the type to have killed others, to have hunted people. Nor the type to have kidnapped Evan until he wasn’t on drugs anymore. It all seemed so far-fetched, as if Jonathan could be a college student, studying, then going to parties, finding someone he could love. He just didn’t look like a murderer.

“All that for your freedom?” he asked.

“For the price,” Evan said, heart squeezing, the memory of when he was in the alley, confronted by two Specter agents who cornered him flashed inside his head, “of my freedom, I would do anything.”

He was too guilty to tell Jonathan about who he had met. Old friends from a past he was meant to run from, to escape until he took shelter with Lucian. He knew eventually they would find him, and that he was going to have to pay for the lies and the betrayal he enacted.

_ “You can’t hide behind your MA agent.” _

What did it mean now that they knew who Jonathan was. That Tyler had threatened both of their lives if he didn’t cooperate with them. There was a new recruit who followed Tyler, who drew closer, who had a soft face while holding a gun in his hand.

_ “That’s Adam, I’m teaching him a bit of field work. So, if you move, Evan, in any fucking way, then what Adam does won’t be my problem.” _

He had been that young once, but he never touched a gun, and that made him nervous, even with someone who looked as if they really wanted to pull the trigger. 

_ “What do you want with me?” he asked Tyler. _

_ Tyler smirked in his usual cocky way, and said, “We’re keeping a close eye on you and the MA agent, including the others who are following you. So if you want to keep breathing, don’t try to fight this, you might end up with a bullet in the head.” _

What was he supposed to do with that information? He wasn’t even sure how he was meant to tell Jonathan without the urge to run and to never look back. 


	5. Dead End • Brian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian & Thomas continue investigating into dangerous territory.

**2:30pm.**

* * *

“This the right place?” Brian asked, looking at Thomas who was staring at his hands again. He had an earphone in one of his ears, and looked ready to put the other in. He told Thomas what they were going to do, and he watched the fear ripple upon Thomas’ face. The urge to run, but he stayed where he was as if he was too scared to move. Brian almost wanted to ask why he didn’t, or why he didn’t beg? Maybe it had to do with the time when his own people beat him after they took everything from him.

Did they feel ripped off after severing their fingers when Thomas kept all ten? He was surprised they hadn’t done worse to him, but maybe stripping his title was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him.

“If anything happens,” Brian said, letting out a sigh, “you have to inform Lucian."

Thomas turned his eyes to him, a dark brown but looked lighter in the sunlight. For someone who was a cult-leader, or at least a gang member, Thomas didn’t have tattoos covering his face, neck, or even his arms. He kept things clean, besides the one tattoo on the inside of his finger. Maybe that’s what bothers him as he wrings his hands, trying to rub it away before it’s cut off.

“She killed before,” he said quietly, looking down. “You should be careful when dealing with her.”

Brian almost wanted to assure Thomas that he expected it from her, and that he had been in the company of killers before. He got out of the car after telling Thomas to take out his earphones. He closed the door and listened to the locks while he walked toward the building.

When DUSK kidnapped him and Evan, Brian hadn’t hesitated in killing them. Evan said nothing which gave him the indication that Evan had seen people die, but he was unsettled by what he had done. Hands shaking until he held onto the Slurpee to keep himself calm. The gun, the bullets, eating into the skin as blood pooled out. Too many times as it sunk into his mind, a reminder of what he had done before.

Brian strolled toward the front door. He wasn’t sure if it was an apartment complex. It just looked empty with an ugly crème color on the outside with a brown roof. Boarded up windows, a few covered by beige curtains. Thomas gave up the address, and said that’s where most of them operate, at least the last time he's hung around them.

He knocked a few times until the deadbolts came loose and the door was pulled open. A sound as if the wood was wrenched open. A man stood in the threshold, taller than Brian with brown skin, and dark brows that furrowed at the sight of him.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I need to speak to Kelsey Lowell.” Brian didn’t bother trying to be pleasant about this. He stood and waited as the man waved someone over, and another man appeared, an inch shorter than the first wearing a long black shirt, baggy blue jeans. He had brown skin and darker brown eyes, he wore a cap on his head, with a gold chain around his neck.

“Brian,” the man said, recognizing him with nonchalance in his voice. “Weapons dealer, works for Lucian.”

The first didn’t bother hiding his sneer. “Search him.”

“I don’t have anything,” Brian said.

“Doesn’t matter,” the first man said, as he gestured for Brian to turn around and raise his arms.

The second man started searching him, checking his arms, pants, and legs. He even looked toward the car where Thomas was who had covered his head with his hood, as if he was trying to hide his appearance. “Who’s that?”

“A friend.”

“Looks like Thomas Brightchild,” the first man said, he had pulled out a cigarette and sparked it with a cheap red lighter.

The second looked away, disregarding Thomas altogether. “He’s clean for a weapon’s dealer.”

“I’m not stupid,” Brian said.

“Coming here, I’d expect you to be smarter,” the second man said, then told him to enter the house. When Brian did, the hall was dark as they led him to another threshold where a woman stood, her arms were crossed and looked annoyed by the three of them.

“Brightchild is outside,” the second said as he slipped past her and into the room with a few others.

“He’s useless,” the woman said, then she started searching Brian again, and he didn’t bother questioning it. Once she deemed him clean, he was led into another hallway, all the way down where he was searched for a third time.

The woman led him to another room, and this time, he found himself standing in front of a long dark haired woman sitting on a red leather couch, counting money and placing them in piles. There were even bags of ice sitting beside it, rails, lighters, a blunt, including a pipe. The woman walked out, while the other stayed inside the room before looking up at Brian.

“What do you want?” Kelsey asked.

Like what Thomas had said, she did look threatening. Pretty, but age is starting to set in, and he could see an anger inside her eyes. He wasn’t sure how anyone could look at someone and not suspect them for what they were. Sometimes that what Brian was worried about himself, but the people he hangs around with have done worse and they all look innocent. Maybe that’s what makes great thieves, criminals, murderers.

Kelsey...he wasn’t so sure about her. Maybe there was people who just looked too easy to fall when they attempted to rise. All that work is a strain, and it is shown too openly on her face.

“I want to know if you have anything to do with supplying Jared with weapons, and if you don’t, do you know who?” He thought about what Thomas had told him about her, and what Rane had mentioned. He even asked Thomas about Danielle, and Thomas had gone quiet about it. He wasn’t so sure about her, but Brian was aware of the lie passing through his mouth.

_ “I don’t know, everything after...was a blur.” _

Brian didn’t bother asking anymore, and decided to just see what Kelsey knows.

She set the bills down and stood up. She was shorter than he was, about five foot five, wearing a black sweater, and tight blue jeans. She wore dark eyeliner and white eyeshadow. Her skin was brown, a distinct rose tattoo on her neck. The feeling she gave off was tense, strained, something dangerous.

“Follow me,” she said, then walked past him and opened the door. He followed her away from the people who led him to her, down a hallway to the other end of the building. He was a little nervous about how far they were going and how secluded this end of the building was. 

He gave Thomas the keys in case something were to happen, told him to wait thirty minutes, and once it passed that time limit, he should leave. Or if someone attempts to attack him, he was allowed to leave. Brian wasn’t sure if Thomas was like Andy, too scared to say anything to Lucian. To be that  _ snitch  _ in this kind of environment. This was different than dealing with gang mentality, and Brian hardly cared.

“Things are changing,” Kelsey said once they entered another room. This one was wider with an open window. There was a round table sitting on the side with two chairs. It smelled like dust and stagnant water. “Lucian is losing his control on the gangs, or whatever interest he has to the ones who got too comfortable within the city.”

Brian was getting the feeling she had no idea what a Dominion was. He had been surprised when Thomas had once brought up when they met, but Lucian told him that Thomas was once a gang leader, a higher up, before he was stripped, of course he would know things others wouldn’t.

“Certain people want to take what’s his,” she continued, turning around to face him. “I think they deserve it more than he does.”

She’s aware, just not as much.

“I’m guessing you’re one of those people.” Brian sighed, he had hoped for answers, not this. “It’s practically against the law, or at least in your and everyone else’s better judgement to kill Lucian.” He had once been in a position where he was close to death, his knees had hit the ground, a gun to the back of his head as he tried to plead for his life. “It’s certain death if you or anyone succeeds, and much more when threatening someone like Lucian.”

To threaten a Dominion Leader was foolish. Two assassin’s unauthorized had been taken out, well...one of them was on top of Pulse who was shot in the head, the other was taken to an unknown location. Then there was Evan and Jonathan who were now on the run because of what they did against the Dominion’s.

For someone who had no idea what the fuck she was talking about had no right to threaten what they didn’t know anything about.

Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him, then he recognized the way she moved, practiced, familiar, as her hand raised with a gun pointed to Brian’s chest. She was used to it, the weight, the feeling, the taste of what it could do.

“I already have three people under me,” she said smoothly, confident with venom on her tongue. “I wouldn’t mind having Lucian’s weapon’s dealer added to that list.”

“Like Danielle Marsh?” he asked, disregarding the gun.

Darius had also been suspected in killing her, but he was picked up for a different murder. It was only a matter of time until they picked up Kelsey.

She faltered at the name, her brow twitched, her teeth clenched. “She wasn’t supposed to die.”

“Really?” he asked. “She’s dead though.”

Kelsey lowered the gun, “We were only supposed to torture her for names.”

Gang related mentality. He disliked dealing with these people when they couldn’t even take the time to be truthful to themselves. He guessed it could be a defense mechanism. Maybe one day she’ll confess to herself that she killed her because she wanted to, and maybe she liked it if she had killed two others. He wasn’t sure, but if she’s familiar with a gun, sooner or later, she’ll be familiar with death and that will become her truth.

“I’m not here for Danielle or whatever you and your people are doing,” Brian said. “But if you kill me, everyone here that is tied to you will die in a matter of hours. Will you have  _ that  _ on your conscience? You may have killed three people who either didn’t deserve to die or not out of a sense of reputation, but the ones you chose to continue breathing, now that will be out of your control, and it’ll be your fault for their deaths.”

“You’re part of his fucking circle, you know what he’ll do” she snarled, eyes burning.

“We all have rules we must stand by,” he said, his thoughts on DeadEye, on the gun at the back of his head, on his own lies he tried to hide behind when he betrayed them. Moral or immoral, a dead body was still a dead body that will rot in the ground.

Kelsey turned away from him, fuming. “It was an unknown benefactor, I don’t know their names or who they were. Now get the fuck out before I have my guys dig a hole for you.”

Brian stepped out of the room and back down the hall. Like shadows, they appeared, leading him toward the door where he found Thomas still sitting in the passenger seat. He looked more wired than he did on coffee as he stared at him in shock.

“You’re alive,” Thomas said once Brian got back into the car.

He breathed steadily. “She has a fucked up sense to kill others for a title.”

“People do a lot of fucked up shit,” Thomas said, body turned slightly to Brian and then he gave him back the keys. “Where are we going now?” 

“I don’t know,” Brian said truthfully, putting the key in the ignition and turning it, feeling the car rumble to life as he backed away from the building, and headed away from it. “All I do know is that there’s going to be a coup soon, but I’m not sure who’s actually running it.”

“What about Kelsey?”

Brian scoffed, “She’s going to get picked up soon, she knows it or she would’ve killed me.”

“I don’t get it, why didn’t she?”

Brian didn’t take offence at his question. “She cares...about her people, at least the ones who are loyal to her. She didn’t want Lucian killing them, but I’m guessing she’ll go to jail for them at the same time.”

Now, they’ll have to speak to her boyfriend, Aiden Fall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer:** The Kelsey & Darius OC's were based on real people who I knew at one point in my past. Kelsey killed three people, and almost shot my sister back in Feb of 2020. She was arrested soon after. Darius had already killed someone who my sister hadn't known of until he was also arrested. Kelsey & Darius were dating at the time. _(Oh, and Kelsey and Darius aren't their real names besides the first letters of their names.)_ My sister isn't part of any gang, she's not a member, but she knows people from certain gangs.
> 
> At the time when I first wrote this, I needed to vent because of the near death experiences my sister had gone through. However, it's Oct, and I'm no longer as affected by it. I will write what I intended to write for this fic though.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


	6. Decision • Evan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan informs Jonathan about who he had spoken too, and they figure out what they're going to do now.

Evan returned to the motel where Jonathan was. He stood against the closed door, listening to the hum inside the room. He didn’t expect it to go the way he had thought. And yet he made it back in one piece, even if he had a gun pointed at him.

He swallowed thickly. He really needed a drink of water and not the coffee he had gone back for when they were too cold. He set the tray down on the table and sat on the chair across from Jonathan.

He glanced up, “Hey, what took you?”

His breath came out shaky. “I have to tell you something, Jonathan, and I need you to not freak the fuck out.”

Jonathan stopped whatever he had been doing. Fixing some kind of radio or walkie talkie, he didn’t know. His head was too focused on what had happened in the alley before he made it back.

“What is it?”

Oh shit. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this. It’s not like he can avoid it, even if he wanted to. “You know when I told you about my former Dominion, Spectre.”

Jonathan nodded, “Yeah, what about it?”

Here it goes. Evan took a deep sigh and said, “I saw them, the Spectre agents. Two of them in the back alley on the way here and—”

Jonathan was getting up, the chair screeched on the floor. “No. They couldn’t have found us yet.”

“We’re not as professional as we may thing,” said Evan, getting up as well. “I talked to one of them.”

“You talked to them?” Jonathan asked, staring at him in disbelief. He even took a step back as if Evan was going to pull a gun on him.

“I had no fucking choice,” Evan said tightly. This was so annoying. Weren’t they meant to trust one another? “I had a gun to my chest, and one of them knew me personally.”

“Personally? You said you didn’t care—”

“Doesn’t mean one or two might’ve made a fucking impression at some point.”

Jonathan didn’t look as if he wanted to talk about it anymore. He was even avoiding looking at Evan. However, this is something they needed to talk about, and Evan had to make this quick.

“They offered to hide us from the other Dominion’s that are hunting us,” he said, taking a hesitant step closer to Jonathan who wasn’t moving from where he was standing. He didn’t want there to be a wall between them simply because Spectre found them.

“What’s the catch?” Jonathan asked, finally turning his wary eyes to him, and Evan couldn’t handle the fear that was also trembling through him. This was all too much.

“We have to go with Spectre without a fight.”

“All this time, and you want to give up?” Jonathan asked, shaking his head, and scowling at the floor between them.

“I’m not giving up, this is a compromise for now...it’s not like we have anywhere else to go!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but everything about this was frustrating. He kept blaming Lucian, but there was also Jonathan’s former affiliation with Messenger Assault that brought this to light. If anything, Evan knew this was going to happen one way or another.

Spectre was going to find him for what he had done in the past. Although, it would’ve been better if they erased his entire identity within the Dominion so this issue wouldn’t arise like it is now.

“Are you loyal to them?” Jonathan asked, sitting down on the bed, it squeaked with his movement. “Is that why it’s so easy to trust them?”

Evan rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly it, Jonathan, not the fucking gun pointed at my chest. They knew where we were the entire time, and they made sure Mirage and Hastings stayed far enough away so they could have that damn two minute conversation with me in that alley, which was hardly a conversation when all they were doing was giving me an ultimatum.”

“Quit yelling at me,” Jonathan said, lying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He still looked incredibly perturbed. Glaring and pouting, like a child.

“From what the Spectre agent told me while threatening to shoot me in the chest,” Evan said, crossing his arms. “They’re the ones who were killing off the other Dominion agents that were following us.”

He was actually impressed about this, he wouldn’t lie. He knew Hastings was one of the Dominion’s that were close by, but to have them also killed was something else entirely. Hastings were brutal people, they didn’t let anyone go unless they were thoroughly tortured of every little piece of information they needed. Mirage, DUSK, and DeadEye’s numbers were cut down ever since they left Lucian’s Dominion. So, from what he was gathering, mostly Spectre had been in the area.

He understood Jonathan’s nervousness, even when he learns a former member of Spectre is telling him that Spectre is going to  _ protect  _ them. Protect is a hefty word, completely ambiguous now that they didn’t have much else to go on besides doing what they wanted. 

“I’m not sure about this,” said Jonathan, sitting up. “They aren’t trustworthy, even if you know them...if anything, it could be absolute bullshit and can easily sell us off to one of the organization’s that want us.”

“Well, no offense, Jonathan, but your organization is dead, while mine probably wants to punish me for leaving,” Evan said. It didn’t sound good on either end, and all Evan wanted to do was lie down on the bed with Jonathan and fall asleep.

“It’s not like we have anything to give them,” Jonathan muttered.

They had their own loyalties to organization’s that no longer benefited from them. Maybe Spectre simply wants what Evan had thanks to what happened in Lucian’s Dominion. Did they know something about that, not like they weren’t bothering to hide an ulterior motive. It was too obvious.

Evan sighed and sat down beside Jonathan. “I’m not sure what will happen if we decline.”

“They could kill us through that window if they so wanted.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the dull tone in Jonathan’s voice. “They could, so we’ll have to be careful. Right now, like the other organization’s, they don’t know we don’t have what they want.” He made sure to whisper, to keep it as much a secret as it was between them.

Jonathan leaned against Evan, closing his eyes and saying, “Fine, I trust you. We’ll go along with them for now. Unless you’re blinded by the past.”

Evan scoffed, carding his fingers through Jonathan’s dark hair. “Don’t patronize me, I’m better than that.”


	7. Hunting • SMii7y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMii7y & Kryoz clean up a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've changed Lui's name to Lucian throughout The Rogue & The Traitor. :) Sorry for not updating all that much. Writer's block, mental health issues, etc, etc,. I was also mostly drained at the thought of changing Lui's name for some time, mostly because I knew it would take awhile, although when I finally did it, it didn't take that long. LOL.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

SMii7y stood near a small brown rundown house, paint peeling, the railing has been torn off, the tree beside the house is drooping, and the grass is fading to yellow.

He has his hands tucked in his pockets. Staring at the house, then he took his phone out and checked the contract he was given, and read over the details before placing his phone back into his pocket.

This is the house.

It’s so quiet, nothing around it moves. He can feel the heaviness of it, as if something sick has grown into the wood, burrowing in the earth around it. It’s such a telltale sign that this is not a good place to end up in.

Which is a good thing for SMii7y since this is where he’s supposed to be, and he has seen far worse than squatting houses meant to be torn down.

He sauntered toward the house and along the walkway to the front door. He tried the doorknob and frowned when he found it was locked, then he walked around to the side door. The door was also locked. With a sigh, SMii7y knocked a few times until he could hear noise coming from the other side.

“Who is it?” a muffled voice said on the other side of the door.

SMii7y cleared his throat and said, “I’m here for Andy.”

He wasn’t really here for Andy, but it was a good enough excuse. His intel told him where his target usually finds himself. With these types of people, they were easy to locate.

The door opened to a wiry man wearing a faded baggy black shirt with some musician on the front, and baggy faded blue jeans. His cheeks were sunken, and he had pale brown skin with brown eyes, heavy with bags.

The man looked almost mean in a razor kind of way. Like he’d snap at any moment.

SMii7y didn’t really let him talk as he reached forward and yanked the man out of the house, and the second his foot hit the cement, a blade had cut deep in his throat, and his body was slumped on the ground. SMii7y walked into the house.

He put away the knife, and took out a gun, as he ascended the stairs and stepped inside the kitchen. There was the strong odor of KD in a pot upon a stained oven. Bowls and plates, including a few cups were on the counter, ready to be washed, and yet wasn’t since the sink wasn’t even full of water. There were flies hanging around inside the humid house as he walked into the living room.

There were three men sitting on the couch that had a strong resemblance to the one who was on the ground, although two of them had heavy tattoos, and one of them had a buzz cut. There was also a woman sitting on a separate chair.

Before any of them could move, SMii7y had the gun pointed at them.

“Make a move, and I’ll shoot you,” SMii7y said with a smile.

“Who the fuck are you?” one of them asked.

SMii7y noted that out of the four, the one sitting to his far right on the grey couch was looking at the kitchen.

“One of you is Jared Rivers, right?” SMii7y asked, pointing the gun at the curious man who was now glaring at him.

“What did you do to Todd?” Jared asked. He was a short dark haired man, possibly about five feet ten inches, at least that’s what the report was telling SMii7y. He dropped out of high school early on, addicted to alcohol more than the drugs he supplies. Worked with Andy and Thomas, and supposed to be low key instead of whatever he was doing now?

“Dead,” said SMii7y, “I’m sure not many people will miss him.”

“You know this fucking kid, Jared?” the woman asked, her gaze held Jared’s, and she sat comfortably in her chair, her phone settled in her lap.

“Lucian’s kid,” Jared said, and that’s really all he has to say to make his point.

“Shit,” one of the other men said, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a lighter. “What the fuck does Lucian want? We didn’t do anything.”

SMii7y clicked his tongue, smiling at Jared who was still glaring at him. “That isn’t true, is it, Jared? I already received my report on you four, including Todd. A part of TDP. Your members have become expendable amongst the ranks, you’re all stripped, and no longer needed.”

“Fuck you,” the last of the three men to speak, and he stood up, much taller and stronger than SMii7y, his anger unfurling upon his features. “Fuck Lucian!”

“You might want to sit down, buddy.”

SMii7y sighed at his partner who finally joined. “You’re late.”

“I told you to wait.”

“I’m efficient, and you’re still late.”

Kryoz came up beside him, holding his own gun. “Why are you taking your time with them?” he asked, pulling the trigger of his gun, and killing the man who was standing up. SMii7y knew his name to be Aaron, brother to the woman to SMii7y’s far left. She even screamed, a choked shuddering sound that was ignored by SMii7y and Kryoz.

“You stepped over your boundary,” Kryoz said as he pointed his gun to the other two. “And everyone else who has come across you, and who have crossed Lucian will receive the same punishment.”

Jared scoffed, his grip on the arm wrist was tight. “That’s a lot of dead people. Sooner or later, people will find out it leads back to Lucian.”

SMii7y stepped past Kryoz, then pressed the barrel of his gun against Jared’s chest, pushing him back against the seat as he leaned close. “That’s why Lucian had us do it. You stepped over a boundary when you set up Lucian’s right hand. Oh, and we’re not Lucian’s kids,” his voice grew dangerously thin, “we belong to Hastings.”

He shot Jared in the chest, while Kryoz killed the other who had stood up from the chair. The woman was the last, and she stayed where she was, trying her hardest to stay defiant.

“Alisha, is it?” SMii7y asked, turning around to face the woman. “You’re of TDP too. You wanted the weapons Jared would’ve given you. I’m sure some of them are down in the basement, and once I have some cleaners here, they’ll find all of your stash, then your little squat of a house will be torn down in the next few days. A strict message from Lucian to not do what you did.”

The woman glared at him, her jaw clenched, her anger stalled thanks to the bodies at their feet.

“These things happen,” Alisha said, her voice weak, “weapons are supplied all over the place, like drugs, sex, alcohol, people.”

SMii7y nodded. “We know. TDP is monitored by Lucian, this is his Dominion, it is ruled by him,” he walked toward the room, ignoring the blood on his shoes, “and you’re a small annoyance in the entire mass of it. I’m sure you all know when a Hastings member comes hunting, we don’t go down as easily as you little rats.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ch Alisha is inspired by a woman who I used to drink with, and she was an addict. Kind of rude, tbh. In person, she's a scary person, very confrontational. :/ Todd is named after a guy my old friend used to date, he was an abuser. I like the act of killing certain people off in my work, writing is good like that.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


	8. Basement Captives • Brian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian and Thomas are looking for Aidan, but find themselves in a basement.

Brian parked the car near Aidan’s house. He almost wanted to tell Thomas to stay in the car, but he didn’t.

He hated this kind of work. Going door to door, asking questions like some kind of cop. It wasn’t the thing Brian enjoyed doing, and he had done it a few times in the past when he worked with DeadEye.

Lucian was a breath of fresh air. He can act out of place at times, but for someone who lived in a messy apartment, he had way too many people inside his web. All of them connect in an almost perfect way, as if symmetrical.

He liked that too. Brian wasn’t confused by anything when he worked with Lucian, but there was always the dirty work, the processes to one area and to the next.

Brian worked with weapons, and because of this, Lucian wanted him to make sure that everything was in its rightful place.

The house they walked up to was a two story building, white with chipped paint, an iron wrought railing upon a four step staircase leading to the door.

It was quiet on the street, eerie even. Those kinds of feelings made Brian think something was wrong, a sinking instinct. He was always told to listen to his instinct, but Brian was already knocking on the front door with Thomas right beside him.

The second the door opened, they were dragged inside with a gun placed close to their chests. Thomas’ eyes were wide, his mouth closed, but Brian could see the shatter of confidence on his face as they were taken to the basement of the house where a group were standing against a wall, all of them uncomfortable in their situation.

These people, covered in red bandana’s and black clothing, don’t work for Aidan Fall. It would be kind of awkward since Aidan was amongst the group against the wall, wearing a disgruntled expression.

“Don’t move,” the one who had a gun at Brian’s side, then backed up to whisper to his cohorts.

“DeadEye,” Brian said under his breath, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh at the realization. Well, this was bad. He didn’t want to stand amongst old allies turned enemies, and he really hoped no one recognized him.

“DeadEye?” Thomas trembled beside him, already looking as if he was going to have a panic attack by his wild eyes. “These people...they shouldn’t be here.”

“Technically, we shouldn’t either,” Brian said.

He had to remind himself that he dealt with worse than gang violence, but if he knew better, DeadEye never really took up the entire gang persona. They were a Dominion, they didn’t squabble in the underground like this. What was actually going on? Did some of their members get bored?

“How long have you been here?” Brian asked the closest man near them.

He was taller and lankier, wearing a baggy sweater. He was also tired by the state of his eyes, and had a bit of cold sweat on his face. “Hour, maybe longer.”

“Who are these people?” He didn’t want to give other people an idea of who they were dealing with, and from the looks of these...five people, they weren’t harmed in any way, although they didn’t have anything shiny on them anymore, their phones were gone.

The man shrugged. “Aidan was sketched out, and we kept telling him not to answer the door.” He shook his head, giving a halfhearted glare to Aidan who was at the other end of the room. “He answered the fucking door, and these guys came walking in, pointing their guns at us, threatening us, and then they fucking robbed our shit.”

Well, shit, so this group didn’t know who they were dealing with. There had to be an underlying reason, although some didn’t really have to have a reason to do what they do.

“B-Brian…” Thomas gasped, stepping closer to him. “I can’t breathe.”

He frowned at Thomas. The stress today was really getting to him. “Hey, you’re going to be alright, calm down.”

Thomas shook his head, “I can’t…”

One of DeadEye’s members walked over to them, holding a bag with the rest of the group’s phones, jewelry, and money. “Drop your stuff in the bag.”

Brian gritted his teeth, then arched a brow at Thomas who had quickly taken his phone out from his sweater pocket and dropped it inside the bag. He stepped back, trying his best to stifle his panic.

“We don’t have money on us,” Brian said. “And I’d like to keep my phone on me.”

“It’s not an option, put your fucking phone into the bag,” the man said, glaring at Brian.

“It is an option,” Brian said, noting the way that man turned slightly, almost as if to reach inside his pocket for the gun. “I work for Lucian, and I’m sure you and your friends know who that is.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Aidan asked, his gaze heavy as he glared from where he stood, and he seemed a little wobbly. “Lucian wanted something, right? Fuck Lucian, I wasn’t part of what happened.”

Three more DeadEye members appeared from the staircase. One of them motioned for the other to grab Aidan who stepped back, yelling incoherently.

The woman to Brian’s far right was trying to stop them from dragging Aidan upstairs, but the smallest of the DeadEye members stepped forward and shoved a knife into the woman’s stomach, a gasp tore itself from her throat, and her grip faltered. Two of them beside her were helping to keep her from falling to the floor as she gripped her side.

“Leave Lucian’s kid alone,” the other said before the three of them headed back upstairs. The door slammed shut, and a lock was in place.

“We’re going to die, we’re going to die,” Thomas whispered. He was tense, unable to look anywhere else but the cement and where Aidan had been dragged off too. If anything, Thomas’ eyes were wet and his voice was becoming more choked up by the second.

Brian sighed, rubbing Thomas’ back, trying to soothe him from his panicked state. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. We’re not going to die.” It’s not like he was promising that they weren’t, he just kind of hoped they wouldn’t end up dying in this basement with this group of strangers.

“Who’s Lucian?” one of the men asked, turning to Brian. “Why are you so special?”

Oh, right, some people who weren’t of higher rank didn’t know much about Lucian and his power over his own Dominion. It was kind of difficult when moving around grunts. It was easier to have someone with much more power to control a group of people. A few of those was Aidan, Kelsey, and Jared. They were only given the knowledge they were meant to have, including the power as if it were allowance day. Have fun for however long, just remember that you’re not completely in control, you’re only a small part of a bigger system.

“I’m only here to find out about the weapon supply,” said Brian, shrugging. “They took Aidan before I could ask, and I don’t think they’ll be giving him back any time soon.”

About a few seconds after, there was a loud scraping sound, followed by a thud, then a continuous amount of shaking on the floorboards as Aidan yelled in pain. To make matters worse, and to add to Thomas’ already growing panic, a gun went off, followed by another loud pained scream coming from Aidan.

The others were quiet, almost cringing at what they were listening to.

Thomas was shaking and whimpering against Brian’s side. Sometimes he can’t believe Thomas used to be some kind of cult leader, or someone who just went around acting like he was a prophet and people started giving him things, even their fingers, like a weird act of worship. Then they kind of dropped him when he didn’t bother dying at sunset for them.

“The gunshot was fake,” the woman said, still holding her side where blood had seeped into her sweater. Her wound must’ve not hit much, and she was taking it quite well.

“They broke his arm,” the man beside Thomas said, head tilted back, staring at the ceiling.

“I think they broke both,” said the fourth man on the other end of the room where Aidan had been standing.

Brian scowled. Great. This was just wonderful. Now what was he going to do?

A few minutes after the sounds had gone silent, and the door to the basement opened up to the same man who had Aidan dragged upstairs. He was maybe an inch shorter than Brian, and the red bandana was now hanging around his neck, his hood covered his brown hair, and he had some kind of scar on his left cheek.

His eyes fell on Brian right away, a look of disgust and recognition flashed over him as he took a few steps forward, taking his gun out and placing it hard against Brian’s abdomen.

“I would shoot you right here, Brian, if it weren’t for Ember’s insistence of having you back where you belong.”

Brian was trying to recall this guy's name. It’s not like he made a lot of friends in DeadEye. “You’re...Riley.”

“Weaver. Yeah, it’s me, asshole, did you honestly forget?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah, I kind of did.” He actually thought he would get his name wrong and end up shot, but good thing he kind of remembered this guy’s name.

Riley scowled, then pulled his gun away, and glared at the others who were watching the exchange. “The rest of you can leave. We’re only here for Aidan.”

“I am too, and if he’s conscious—”

“Take the opportunity to leave, or I’ll give Ember a reason why I had you killed in this shitty house,” Riley said.

Thomas nudged Brian, and in the next few seconds, everyone in the basement was allowed to leave the house. Brian wasn’t sure what they did with Aidan, or where they took him as they all went their separate ways.

“Fuck sakes,” Brian said as he was now sitting in the car with Thomas who was urging him to hurry up. “What the hell do I tell Lucian?”

“We almost got fucking killed, and this is what you’re worried about?” Thomas asked. His eyes were still red and puffy from the panic, and he was now gripping onto his seat belt as Brian started up the car.

“Yes,” Brian said, driving away from the house. “That is what I’m worried about. I work for a Dominion leader, if you’ve forgotten. Lucian is scarier than a few foot soldiers for DeadEye.” Although it’s not like he wanted to be in their presence in the first place. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized, and he had looked Riley Weaver in the face.

“Where are we going now?” Thomas asked.

“Back to my place, we can stay there until I figure out what to do,” said Brian, then he turned on the radio and they sat listening to that until they arrived at his apartment building. It was in the nicer area of the city. He almost thought Thomas wanted to get out and head home, but he stayed with Brian, and even took over the couch when Brian unlocked the door to the apartment for them.

“Wake me up...later,” Thomas said as Brian covered him with a spare blanket from the closet.

Brian sighed once he sat down on his bed, he didn’t bother turning on any lights once he closed the door. He was drained by what he had to go through. The conversations were all over the place. He had stood before DeadEye, and a part of him was disgusted by their presence. The other part was in awe that they were in the city, that they were pretending to be gang members, and they were looking for something.

Maybe it was control of Lucian’s Dominion, and if Lucian gave him the green light to kill his old allegiance, then Brian wasn’t against the idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer:** This is inspired by a situation my older sister was in a year ago. She told me she and a bunch of people were kept in a basement at gun point. One of them was dragged upstairs and beaten, he had both arms broken, and they fired a gun to scare the ones in the basement. One of the women was stabbed by another woman. And they all had to give away their valuable items _(money, jewelry, phones.)_ My sister was almost killed in that basement. A guy pulled a gun on her, fired it, but she managed to move out of the way. My sister said they were in the basement all night, and by early in the morning, they were let go. One or two followed my sister down several streets, watching her. The guy that kept them in the basement gave my sister's phone back since he looked into her phone and saw pictures of her daughters. Although, my sister also said one of her friends had shown up in a Harley Quinn outfit and started hitting one of the guy's with a baseball bat. LOL.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


End file.
